FINDINGS OF FACT & CONCLUSIONS OF LAW On October 3, 2019, the court issued a Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order ["TERPO"] (see CPLR 6342) against Respondent upon Petitioner’s application. On October 21, 2019, October 24, 2019, November 20, 2019 and December 9, 2019, the court conducted a hearing to determine whether it should issue a final Extreme Risk Protection Order (see CPLR 6343) against Respondent. Respondent was present and participated in the hearing on October 21, 2019, October 24, 2019 and November 20, 2019. The court repeatedly admonished Respondent that if he failed to appear without explanation at the continued hearing, it would proceed in his absence and that the court might find against him. Respondent failed to appear without explanation on December 9, 2019 and the hearing concluded. At the hearing, Petitioner called Donald R., Dylon H., Nassau County Police Department ["NCPD"] Officer Brandon Colon, New York City Police Department ["NYPD"] Detective Devin Okvist, and NCPD Detective Thomas Roche to testify. Respondent called David R. to testify out of order during Petitioner’s case. Petitioner also introduced into evidence ten (10) exhibits, including Respondent’s medical records from Nassau University Medical Center ["NUMC"] (Petitioner’s Exhibit 3); voicemail messages from Respondent to the Deputy County Attorney Joanne Curran, assigned to prosecute the instant action (Petitioner’s Exhibits 4 and 5); and copies of two notebooks recovered from Respondent’s car (Petitioner’s Exhibit 10). Respondent’s background investigation report (see CPLR 6342[9]) was admitted into evidence as Court Exhibit 1. All the witnesses appeared credible and reliable. Donald R. testified that on September 30, 2019 at about 1:30 p.m. he was parked in front of Winthrop Urgent Care at 222 Station Plaza in Mineola, NY. Respondent drove up, parked next to him and exited his car with what Donald R. recognized as a rifle bag in his right hand. The bag appeared to have some weight to it. Respondent sat down on a bench next to a woman who got up and left after Respondent started to talk to her. Respondent then went inside the clinic, past a young man directing visitors at the entrance. Donald R. followed and asked the young man whether he was aware that Respondent was carrying a rifle bag. The young man said no, but that Respondent had been talking about “terrorists and terrorism” (H. 27-28). Donald R. decided to call 911. The police arrived and eventually removed Respondent by ambulance. Dylon H. testified that he is a medical secretary at Winthrop Urgent Care. On September 30, 2019 at about 1:30 p.m. he was at his desk at the entrance to the clinic when a co-worker informed him that “someone’s outside with a rifle” (H. 39). He saw Respondent with “some sort of like carrying case” (H. 39) and went to speak to him. Respondent told Dylon H. that he recently underwent surgery at the hospital where they were supposed to put stents in his legs but did not. He claimed the hospital owed him $25,000. Respondent also said that he was dying. Security arrived and asked Respondent what was in the carrying case. He said it was a shotgun that he got fixed around the corner at the gun shop. Respondent then said that he had been on the phone with Donald Trump two weeks ago and that Trump told him to buy guns. At that point, Dylon H. instructed his co-workers to call the police. NCPD Officer Brandon Colon testified that on September 30, 2019 he responded to a call about an individual with a gun at Winthrop Urgent Care. He entered the building where he observed Respondent, who was wearing a bathing suit and dirty tank top, speaking to another officer. The gun bag was on the ground about five feet away from Respondent. Officer Colon retrieved the gun bag and removed a loaded High Standard K-1200 12-gauge shotgun. Officer Colon then spoke to Respondent who “didn’t seem to be in the right state of mind to be where he was and to be in possession of what he had with him” (H. 91). Respondent claimed that he had spoken to Donald Trump on the phone a couple of days ago and that Trump told him to buy guns. Respondent added that he was going to the gun store and that he had another weapon at home. He also told Officer Colon that he previously had been diagnosed as clinically insane. After consultation with a police medic, Respondent was taken to NUMC for psychiatric evaluation. NYPD Detective Deven Okvist testified that he executed a search of Respondent’s home at 81-28 252nd Street, Bellerose, NY pursuant to the TERPO. He recovered an air pistol from a glass china cabinet in the living room as well as 23 shotgun rounds from a shelf on a desk in a guest bedroom. Respondent did not have a permit for the pistol or the ammunition. Detective Okvist additionally testified that NYPD conducted a background investigation of Respondent which revealed that, among other offenses, Respondent had been arrested for second degree assault as well as for violating an order of protection against his wife. Nassau County Detective Thomas Roche testified that he served Respondent with the TERPO at NUMC. Respondent admitted that he had gone into Winthrop Urgent Care with a shotgun. He said he got the gun after September 11, 2001 from a friend named David. Respondent said he kept the gun in a closet in his house. He claimed that his local precinct had taken the gun away from him before. Respondent also told Detective Roche that he had been psychiatrically evaluated a few times before in Queens and that he takes Xanax every twelve hours for pain. Detective Roche additionally testified that he executed a search pursuant to the TERPO of Respondent’s car, from which he recovered two notebooks containing angry “ramblings” (H. 238) about corruption in Nassau County. David R. testified that he was Respondent’s friend and that he sold him a police riot 12-gauge shotgun in good condition around 2002. Although Respondent did not formally testify at the hearing, throughout the proceedings he variously claimed, under oath, that he had been “tortured brutally in Nassau County jail in 1984″ (H. 16); that “the psychiatric hospital that the detectives took me to, incarcerated me in, it’s worse than a prison. You have no rights at all, about 17 days there of sheer torture…. They don’t consider what they’ve done, how they’ve told New York City police to smash down my, the house to my door” (H. 21); that “my word is against that of a half a dozen cops who have been heavily coached by the district attorney for a month” (H. 80); that “[this] is a criminal case…of national importance” (H.81); that “I will not be railroaded by these people…they’re criminals” (H. 87); that “this is the 27th time that I have had problems with Nassau County” and that “there are illegal arrests” (H. 88); that “I am very sick. My brain is badly damaged” (H. “95); that “I have tibia bones hanging by one millimeter. The blood is running through my brain and heart as we speak” (H. 111); that “I just want it on the record that Nassau County murdered me through everything they did. Bring out all the records here. I will prove they murdered me” (H. 125); that “if I’m not here on November 20th I will either be in a southern state or a foreign country. I will be as far away from the New York Gestapo system as I can” (H. 128); that “the picture of a gun [Petitioner's Exhibit 1]…looked like it was put in a coffin deliberately to suggest that I am some kind of a raving lunatic going to go around killing people and coffins are going to be the result” (H. 142); that “I intend to show…that this hospital is well known to commit people at will. If a report is engineered in a certain way and written up in a certain way, commitment is automatic. That’s a form of torture. This is a form of torture. The thousands of dollars of bills when my house was smashed in is a form of torture” (H. 180); that “[Deputy County Attorney Curran] knows I’m in poor health and she’s deliberately making all these meaningless objections just to cause me more aggravation, more tickets, more fines, more penalties, two and a half weeks commitment of torture and the break-in of my house” (H.191); that “if what [Officer Colon] wrote was premeditated to steer someone like a hospital in a certain direction to commit me, I went through agony and torture. I came out much worse than when I went in” (H. 202); that “I am a person that has served this country long and hard, only to be tortured” (H. 206); that “in order to get out of this psychiatric hospital they forced me to take an injection, a one-month long injection that I am still recovering from” (H. 215); and that [Deputy County Attorney Curran] “really should get a job helping people instead of hurting people” (H. 216). Additionally, during his cross-examination of Officer Colon, Respondent asked, “you don’t know if it’s true or not true whether I spoke to Donald Trump, do you” (H. 168); “you know nothing of my relationship with him, do you” (H. 168); “you do know that he owns casinos in Atlantic City at one time, like the Taj Majal” (H. 168); and “did you know that was a casino that for many years I played poker in poker tournaments and had met Mr. Trump on several occasions? Were you aware of that” (H. 168). Regarding the decision to have Respondent psychiatrically evaluated, he further asked Officer Colon, “wasn’t the real motive harassment and torture of me because of prior records and because I fought back against Nassau County and because I’m one of the most vocal people in this country against corruption” (H. 205); “did you know that I am one of the most vocal people in this country against corruption” (H. 205); and “are you aware of the whistle blower complaints” (H. 206). Respondent’s background investigation report (Court Exhibit 1) indicates that he was arrested in 1983 for violating a family court order of protection against him on behalf of his wife, who alleged that he punched and scratched her. Respondent also was arrested in 1982 for felony assault against an unidentified complainant who alleged that Respondent struck her about the face and body as well as strangled her, causing her to lose consciousness. Respondent’s medical records from NUMC (Petitioner’s Exhibit 3) indicate that he was involuntarily hospitalized for psychiatric treatment from September 30, 2019 to October 16, 2019. He was admitted due to psychiatric illness which presented an acute high risk of harm to himself and others. His admitting diagnosis was “unspecified psychosis not due to a substance or known physiological condition” and his primary psychiatric problem was “aggression” and “thought disorder.” He initially was assessed as “grossly psychotic, delusional, illogical, bizarre, paranoid with flight of ideas…poor insight and judgment, unpredictable for harm to self or others.” His psychiatric emergency evaluation additionally indicates “violence risk factors” of “treatment non-compliance, prior violent threats, psychosis, agitation.” The October 3, 2019 Inpatient Psychiatry History and Physical Examination ["INP PSY H&P"] states that “consent obtained from patient to get collateral” from Respondent’s rheumatologist, who reported that he prescribed Respondent Oxycodone and Alprazolam (Xanax) for “management of chronic pain syndrome and gout” but that he told Respondent “that he would need to find a new doctor because he was not comfortable prescribing more medications.” The INP PSY H&P further reflects that the rheumatologist prescribed a 30-day supply of 60 tablets of “Alprazolam 2mg” which Respondent filled on September 25, 2019; a 30-day supply of 120 tablets of “Oxycodone 20 mg” which Respondent filled on July 25, 2019; and a 30-day supply of 150 tablets of “Oxycodone 15 mg” which Respondent filled on July 27, 2019. Respondent’s rheumatologist also alleged that “[Respondent] has anxiety issues” but that he was “not aware of other psychiatric diagnoses.” The October 3, 2019 Progress Note observes that Respondent “remains paranoid, illogical and tangential during interview stating that his legs are pulverized, putrefied and rotting due to not being seen by medicine [sic] doctors and be [sic] adequately treated by Oxycodone and Alprazolam…. Patient states that his bones are hanging by a thread and ready to be broken off if not provided with a walker or wheelchair, although patient seen ambulating…. Patient is preoccupied with terrorists attacking onto [sic] his house in Bellerose, remains paranoid stating that the Moslems [sic] in the neighborhood have destroyed his garage and wheelchair.” The Progress Note further describes Respondent’s mental status as “superficially cooperative, and insistent on being prescribed Oxycodone & Alprazolam, unable to participate or provide a coherent history. Speech was rapid pressured with elevated tone. Thought process tangential, racing with flight of ideas, delusions of persecution with grandiose ideation. Thought content is notable for paranoia about Moslems [sic] in neighborhood with preoccupations on wars, PTSD and conspiracy theories…. Poor insight, poor judgment, poor impulse control.” Respondent was diagnosed with “Schizophrenia, r/o Schizoaffective Disorder Bipolar Type” for which he was prescribed Klonopin, Depakote and Risperdal. Respondent’s medical records also repeatedly reflect that Respondent was “noncompliant with meds” and that he frequently was counseled about the importance of compliance with his treatment plan. Indeed, the October 15, 2019 Multidisciplinary Treatment Plan notes that Respondent “rejects [treatment] plan” and that he should be “encouraged to comply with medications.” Respondent’s voicemail messages to Ms. Curran (Petitioner’s Exhibits 4 & 5) betray his confusion about the nature of the proceeding against him. Respondent repeatedly refers to Ms. Curran as “ADA Curran.” He rants about cover-ups, fraud and corruption in Nassau County. During one message, he professes to feeling calmer because he just took Xanax. Respondent accuses the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office ["NCDA"] of suborning perjury and states that it is the most corrupt office he has ever seen. He claims that he has been tortured by the NCDA; that the NCDA prosecutes innocent people and fabricates evidence; and that every conviction the NCDA has obtained has been overturned. He declares that he is close to death thanks to Nassau County’s torture and warns that they are not getting away with it. He states that NCDA coaches all its witnesses and that every case is a frame job with tainted testimony. He reiterates that Nassau County has murdered him. Respondent’s notebooks (Petitioner’s Exhibit 10) mostly are unintelligible and/or illegible, but the following passages are discernable: “Affidavit: Synopsis of my allegations of intentional malpractice and maiming, torture and massive coverups in the hospital, prison, justice system, DA’s office and political hierarchy of Nassau County. [M.B.], being duly sworn deposes and says that I wish to turn state’s evidence of gargantuan proportions relative to massive corruption, heinous crimes and coverups in Nassau County, NY apparently protected by higher NYS authorities and the former presidential [illegible] of George W. Bush. I have already been maimed and crippled in both legs, have endured 4 paralytic attacks, prison torture and hospital torture. My entire life has been utterly shattered in every way…. My motives: 1 – To right wrongs and seek justice 2 – A coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man one.” Based upon all the foregoing, the court finds clear and convincing evidence that Respondent is likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to himself or others (see CPLR 6343[2]). Respondent suffers from a mental illness that causes him to act unpredictably and potentially dangerously. He experiences delusions, including those of persecution by authority, which excessively preoccupy him and motivate his actions. His behavior which led to the issuance of the TERPO objectively was both reckless and menacing. Respondent previously has had conflicts with the law, including for alleged assault and criminal contempt. Significantly, Respondent could not control himself inside or outside the court during the hearing, as evidenced by his statements on the record as well as his voicemail messages to Deputy County Attorney Curran. It also appears that Respondent not only is noncompliant with his medications but that he might be misusing prescribed controlled substances, i.e. Xanax or Oxycodone. Accordingly, the court grants Petitioner’s application and issues a one year Extreme Risk Protection Order. Petitioner shall effectuate service of such order in compliance with CPLR 308. Pursuant to CPLR 308(4), “where service under paragraphs one and two cannot be made with due diligence,” Petitioner shall serve Respondent “by affixing the summons to the door of…[the] dwelling place or usual place of abode within the state of [Respondent] and by…mailing the [order] to [Respondent] at his…last known residence.” Dated: January 6, 2020
